Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015;24(1):25-36.
doi: 10.1891/1058-1243.24.1.25.

Institutional and Cultural Perspectives on Home Birth in Israel

Michal Rosie Meroz, Anat Gesser-Edelsburg

Institutional and Cultural Perspectives on Home Birth in Israel

Michal Rosie Meroz et al. J Perinat Educ. 2015.

Abstract

This study exposes doctors' and midwives' perceptions and misperceptions regarding home birth by examining their views on childbirth in general and on risk associated with home births in particular. It relies on an approach of risk communication and an anthropological framework. In a qualitative-constructive study, 19 in-depth interviews were conducted with hospital doctors, hospital midwives, home-birth midwives, and a home-birth obstetrician. Our findings reveal that hospital midwives and doctors suffer from lack of exposure to home births, leading to disagreement regarding norms and risk; it also revealed sexist or patriarchal worldviews. Recommendations include improving communication between home-birth midwives and hospital counterparts; increased exposure of hospital doctors to home birth, creating new protocols in collaboration with home-birth midwives; and establishing a national database of home births.

Keywords: childbirth risk perceptions; holistic childbirth; home birth; paternalism in the birth room; technocratic childbirth.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

NOTES

    1. Shiftan is a home-birth physician who collects data of home births in Israel. Because there is no official database in the country, his database is the only source for home-birth statistics.

    1. The doctors and the midwives worked at the time of the study in five large hospitals in Israel: West Galilee Hospital in Nahariya, Poriah Hospital, Rambam Hospital in Haifa, Ichilov Hospital in Tel-Aviv, and Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.

References

    1. Alfirevic Z., Devane D., Gyte G. M. L. (2008). Continuous cardiotocography (CTG) as a form of electronic fetal monitoring (EFM) for fetal assessment during labour. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (19), CD006066. - PubMed
    1. American College of Nurse-Midwives (2005). Position statement: Home birth. Retrieved from http://www.midwife.org/siteFiles/position/homeBirth.pdf
    1. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (2011). Planned home birth: Committee opinion no. 476. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 117, 425–428. - PubMed
    1. Ann R., Freeze S. (2010). Attitudes towards home birth in the USA. Expert Review of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 5, 283–299.
    1. Balaskas J. (1992). Active birth: The new approach to giving birth naturally. Boston, MA: The Harvard Common Press.

LinkOut - more resources